We love the idea of talking animals in fiction. But can animals learn to use language in real life? Stephen Fry investigates the connection between fact and fiction.

For the last 40 years or so, experimenters with chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas have claimed significant success in teaching these intelligent animals language. But linguists have always cast doubt on those claims, arguing that there’s a biological reason why humans are the only animals on earth able to use language.

We hear from Penny Macfarlane, whose long relationship with Koko the Gorilla was more of a close friendship than a scientific experiment. It was conducted mostly in sign language. We also meet Sue Savage Rumbaugh whose long term associate, a bonobo called Kanzi, passed some difficult language tests, and Herbert Terrace whose lengthy experiment with a chimpanzee called Nim was aborted when he decided Nim was not truly earning anything linguistic except the ability to beg.

We also hear from English Literature students from the University of Exeter who study the role of animals in fiction.

On the fictional side, Stephen considers Eeyore in Winnie The Pooh, Black Beauty, Tarzan’s chimpanzee sidekick Cheeta and a nameless talking ape created by Franz Kafka. In a way, Dr Doolittle’s contribution is the most important. Rather than teaching animals to be human language users, Doolittle famously wanted to learn animal languages. But, as we hear, that comes with its own set of problems and the warning that if they could talk to us, we might not like what they say.

A Testbed production for BBC Radio 4 Show less